Controversy over £13m Hereford school expansion

A planned new £13-million extension to a Hereford high school, enabling it to take 300 more pupils, could get the go-ahead this week.

But proposals for Aylestone School in the northeast of the city, which includes a new sports hall, two-storey teaching block and music facilities, faces strong local opposition.

Aylestone Hill resident Jeffrey Hancorn claimed there is “no acute local shortfall of secondary capacity warranting a £13 million expansion at Aylestone”.

Given official data showing Herefordshire is able to accommodate most children in their first-choice schools, the “urgent need for secondary school places” cited in Herefordshire Council’s planning application “is factually unsound”, he wrote.

Meanwhile questions have been raised about whether Aylestone School merits expansion.

Fewer than three in ten pupils at the school achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSEs this year, compared to a national state school average of 45 per cent, government figures show.

Its average point score in EBacc was 2.99, compared to a national 4.08.

“This tells a story of a school that is struggling, not one that is ready to expand,” Ruth Stott wrote. “Aylestone School’s results just don’t support such a large investment.”

Herefordshire Council’s previous Cabinet committed to the spending in February 2023.

Further concerns from residents over increased congestion on Broadlands Lane were addressed in a revised transport assessment submitted with the application, to the satisfaction of the council’s highways engineer.

Meanwhile Government agency Sport England formally objected to the loss of playing fields on which the new building would stand – despite its extra indoor sports provision.

The proposal, along with a planned new 350-home housing scheme to the northwest of the city, will be decided by Herefordshire Council’s planning committee this Wednesday.

Planning officer Ollie Jones is recommending councillors approve the school plan.

If built, the number of forms in each year at the school will rise from three to five, starting with the new year 7 intake next September, eventually raising pupil numbers from the current 450 to 750.